Balsillie, Hamilton cut NHL deal: report

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Jim Balsillie is trying to buy the Predators for $220 million US. ((Carolyn Kaster/Canadian Press))

Hamilton is moving a step closer to getting an NHL team.

Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie and the city are close to announcing a deal that would make Hamilton the only destination if Balsillie buys and then moves the Nashville Predators, the Globe and Mail reported Wednesday.

A source familiar with the negotiations said Hamilton city council hopes to announce the deal after meeting Wednesday.

Last month, Balsillie signed a letter of intent to buy the cash-strapped Predators for $220 million US.

Balsillie, co-chief executive officer of BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion in Waterloo, Ont., is scheduled to meet the NHL's board of governors later this month to get approval for the deal.

The new agreement would take the Kitchener-Waterloo region out of the running.

It had been speculated that Balsillie wanted to move the Predators to the location of his company's headquarters.